•The specific contribution of GUAs to the SDGs has been analysed.•Green urban areas contribute directly to the achievement of SDG11, SDG15 and SDG13.•Equity in sustainable development has been ...assessed at a sub-neighbourhood level.•Equity requires an adequate location, size, quantity and quality of GUA.
The Agenda for Sustainable Development 2030 of United Nations is made up of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that humanity will have to meet by 2030. In achieving the SDGs, green urban areas (GUA) play a fundamental role at the local level as they provide recreational and bioclimatic regulatory functions and act as a carbon sink, as well. Specifically, the GUAs contribute directly to three SDGs: SDG 11 Sustainable cities and communities, SDG 13 Climate Action and SDG 15 Life on land.
This paper evaluates direct contribution of GUA to this SDGs with high spatial resolution in the case study of the city of Valencia (Spain). The evaluation carried out has made it possible to make a diagnosis of the quantity and accessibility of GUA at sub-neighbourhood level. The results for SDG 11 show that only 9.23% of the population do not have desirable access to GUA and 2.73% live in areas without easy walking distance access to GUA. On the other hand, the evaluation of SDG 15 shows that each inhabitant has at their disposal 10 m2 of GUA, below the average of cities of more than 250,000 inhabitants in Spain. The high spatial resolution of the evaluation has also made it possible to identify the city areas with the worst access to GUA and the least amount of GUA per inhabitant. In consequence, the results allow determining zones with high potential to improve. Additionally, the quantification of the CO2 fixed by the GUA carried out for the evaluation of SDG 13, shows that the fixed carbon is equivalent to 0.04% of total gross GHG emissions of the city and is 36% higher than the total GHG emissions of the annual fuel consumption of the total fleet in the city. Finally, the monitoring of the indicators applied allows evaluating the evolution of the GUA to improve the sustainable development of the city.
We investigate the effect of urban land use on residential well-being in major German cities, using panel data from the German Socio-Economic Panel and cross-section data from the European Urban ...Atlas. We reduce concerns about endogeneity by employing fixed-effects (within) estimators, with individual and city of residence fixed effects, while controlling for a rich set of observables. The results show that access to green urban areas, such as gardens and parks, is positively associated with, whereas access to abandoned areas, such as waste or leftover land, is negatively associated with life satisfaction. The effects are strongest for residents who are older, accounting for up to a third of the size of the effect of being unemployed on life satisfaction. We calculate the marginal willingness-to-pay of residents in order to have access to green urban and abandoned areas in their surroundings, as well as the life-satisfaction maximising amounts of them. Finally, we provide a policy case study, while discussing limitations and avenues for future research.
•Climate, landscape and emissions around PM monitoring points were recognized.•Landscape metrics might serve as indicators of potential particulates pollution.•Green areas significantly limit the ...spread of PM, esp. in buffer of 100–500 m.•Metrics of green areas related to PM concentration are mainly patch area and its shape.•Climate and landscape structure have effect more on PM2.5, while emissions on PM10.
Air pollution is the single largest environmental health risk. It significantly impacts human life and the condition of ecosystems. One type of dangerous pollutant is particulate matter (PM). All EU countries, especially Poland, should take intensive actions to achieve the necessary standards of air quality. These actions should be aimed at reducing emissions on the one hand, and on the other, at reducing the PM concentrations in the air. To achieve this, identification of the factors influencing air pollution is needed. In this study, the landscape pattern, climate and emissions around PM monitoring points were recognized. Climate factors, particularly wind speed, prove to be most important for PM pollution. In addition, the landscape pattern modifies the concentration significantly, especially in the case of PM2.5. The presence in the landscape of green areas with a large surface and complex shape is connected to the lesser concentration of PM. The importance of emissions, although statistically significant, was rather small. In particular, the relationship between the distance to large point sources and PM concentration was not demonstrated, meaning that the pollution from high chimneys is strongly dispersed and does not affect the concentrations of PM in their vicinity. It is concluded that the landscape indicators provide new information to explain the PM concentration and that it is very important to shape the landscape with consideration of green areas as a pollutant filter. Taking into account the green areas together with pollution sources in spatial planning can significantly support the effectiveness of air protection, and at the same time, can increase the comfort of life by providing a whole range of ecosystem services, both regulating and cultural. The landscape approach best suits the needs of spatial planning, especially in cities where the highest anthropogenic pressure and increased demand for ecosystem services are evident.
•Urbanization puts increasing pressure on urban green.•We investigate the impact of residential access to urban green on self-reported health (SRH) in Berlin, Germany.•We identify planning units ...undersupplied with urban green.•The findings provide guidance for policy and planning to improve residential health.
This study investigates the impact of residential access to urban green space (UGS) on self-reported health (SRH) in Berlin, Germany. Using Geographical Information Systems (GIS), survey data and Urban Atlas land cover data, we calculated the Euclidean distance between 874 respondents’ georeferenced home locations and the closest edge of the nearest green space as well as the spatial coverage of green space within a 250 m buffer around the place of living. These measures serve as proxies for residential access to UGS. Using linear regression models, we find both, decreasing Euclidean distances to the nearest green space and increasing spatial coverages of UGS significantly contributing to SRH. Furthermore, we find spatial coverages of UGS of less than 2.5% and Euclidean distances of at least 200 m to the nearest green space to have negative impacts on SRH if compared to observations having largest spatial coverages of UGS around their home locations and shortest distances to the nearest green space, respectively. Based on these findings, we identify 437 of Berlin’s 447 planning units that provide access to UGS negatively affecting SRH of which 297 are used for residential purposes primarily. Our results provide useful information for policy makers and urban planners on the impact of UGS on health and adequate green space provision.
Evaluating the current state of hydrologic processes in urban and semi-urban areas is an essential part of ensuring the sustainable management of water and preventing emergencies of extreme events. ...This study evaluated the effects of land use and land cover (LULC) change on runoff processes in the Waterford River Watershed (WRW), located in the eastern part of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador (NL), Canada. The Regional Hydro - Ecological Simulation System (RHESSys), a GIS-based hydro-ecological model, was used in a new urbanistic approach to simulate the effects of increasing impervious land as well as reducing urban green areas. The increase in hypothetical peak flows had a direct relationship with the reduction of pervious areas in the watershed. The most sizeable flow increases were observed in the periods of April to May and October to December. This study emphasizes the importance of using a prominent network of green and pervious structures or water retention areas when allocation for residential and commercial land increase.
The most commonly used model for analyzing satellite imagery is the Support Vector Machine (SVM). Since there are a large number of possible variables for use in SVM, this paper will provide a ...combination of parameters that fit best for extracting green urban areas from Copernicus mission satellite images. This paper aims to provide a combination of parameters to extract green urban areas with the highest degree of accuracy, in order to speed up urban planning and ultimately improve town environments. Two different towns in Croatia were investigated, and the results provide an optimal combination of parameters for green urban areas extraction with an overall kappa index of 0.87 and 0.89, which demonstrates a very high classification accuracy.
Different land cover types in cities, including green areas, have impacts on mental health. Few studies, however, have been conducted in megacities in low-/middle-income countries, which have ...extremely complex urban arrangements.
We analyzed land cover using the population database of the São Paulo Megacity Mental Health Survey (n = 4287) and the associations with the diagnosis of depression/anxiety.
Automatic classification of the orthophotos of the metropolitan area was performed using the random forest algorithm to provide land cover variables. The association of mental health data with land cover was determined with logistic regression and multilevel regression models.
The percentage of different green spaces, mainly grassed areas, within districts was negatively associated with the presence of anxiety (OR 0.994, 0.968, 0.994, respectively), while roofs, asphalt and shadow (OR 1.007, 1.021, 1.085, 1.021, 1.014, respectively) were positively associated with the presence of anxiety. These results were more significant in green areas within the fourth quartile -0.352 (0.158) and -0.347 (0.155), respectively and in the roofs in the fourth quartile 0.321 (0.159). No significant results were found for depression.
Our data indicate the need for intensive greenery in spaces with different vegetation compositions in urban environments, especially megacities, to improve the mental health of urban dwellers.
The biological invasion of non-native organisms can cause significant economic losses as well as large-scale damage to natural ecosystems. Among the invasive insects, the spread of alien ...phyllophagous insects feeding on the plant leaves is becoming increasingly important. The reconnaissance survey of green areas and forests in the Lviv, Transcarpathian, and Ternopil regions of Ukraine, aiming to identify the invasive species, was conducted in 2017-2019. The symptom/damaged part and a close-up of any feeding of phyllophagous insects including larvae, adults, pupae, or eggs were collected and labelled using general recommendation for collecting arthropod pests. Accurate identification and specimen affiliation were carried out based on microscopic analyses, available guides, or online resources. Fall webworm (Hyphantria cunea) is the species of internal quarantine in Ukraine that has been successfully introduced and spread in forests, gardens, and green plantations; it is widespread across Ukraine. The larva of false acacia sawfly (Nematus tibialis) was rarely found feeding on the leaves of black locust with no significant threat to the species' trees. In 2014, box tree moth (Cydalima perspectalis) penetrated into the territory of Transcarpathia from Hungary. Nowadays, this invasive species is spread in all green areas of big cities such as Lviv, Odesa, Kyiv, Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, Dnipro, and in the Transcarpathian region causing a huge foliage loss to boxwood plants. The invasive elm zigzag sawfly (Aproceros leucopoda), causing local damage to Ulmus trees, was recorded in 2010. The horse-chestnut leaf-mining moth (Cameraria ohridella) is still a leader among the invasive leaf miners in urban plantations. It has spread almost all over the country and causes significant infestation of horse-chestnut leaves every year, even if there is no evidence that moth damage leads to tree death. An increasing importance of damages caused by invasive leaf miners feeding in the mines of the leaves of lindens (lime leaf mine Phyllonorycter issikii), planes (plane leaf miner Phyllonorycter platani) and locusts (leaf blotch miner moth Macrosaccus robiniella, locust digitate leafminer Parectopa robinella) was also recorded. Recently, the strong damage of sycamore lace bug (Corythucha ciliata), a new invasive species that belongs to the piercing and sucking insects feeding on the lower leaf side and sucking sap was detected in the Transcarpathian and Kherson regions of Ukraine. Since 2018, this invasive pest has penetrated into the urban green areas of Lviv City. The citrus flatid planthopper (Metcalfa pruinosa), another invasive species, was recorded in Transcarpathian and Odessa regions. It is considered as a very important invasive species due to its gregarious behavior and mobility. The brown marmorated stink bug (Halyomorpha halys) was also found on agricultural crops in the Odessa region. Newly detected invasive species have all the prerequisites for further distribution into the forests and green plantations across Ukraine. Lilac leafhopper (Igutettix oculatus) was identified as an invasive pest of Syringa spp., Ligustrum spp. and Fraxinus spp. in the green urban areas of Lviv City in 2019. The importance of invasive aphids such as Prociphilus fraxinifolii, Appendiseta robiniae, Aphis craccivora, A. nerii, Illinoia lambersi has also increased especially in green urban areas between 2018 and 2019. Black locust gall midge Obolodіplosіs robіnіae was also found widely distributed. However, it does not have currently any significant damaging effect on black locust trees. Newly recorded identification of invasive phyllophagous insects may amplify the concern on the increasing threat to the leaves of forests and green plantations. Based on personal observations and literature analyses, we strongly believe that the main pathway of invasive insects’ spread in Ukraine is the trade of planting material and ornamental plants. We have found that the use of chemical and mechanical methods to control the spread of invasive phyllophagous insects does not provide a sufficiently long-lasting effect. According to the research review, the natural control of invasive phyllophagous insects is possible only when an effective parasitic complex occurs. This complex, in combination with other measures, can become the basis of the integrated protection methods for forests and green urban areas in the future.
The increased migration of people from rural areas to cities has prompted researchers to take an interest in the problem of the quality of life (QOL) of the urban population in different contexts. ...The aim of the study was to determine the relationship between the level of satisfaction of Warsaw residents with urban infrastructure (SUI) and their QOL, the impact of the SUI on the perception of a neighborhood as an ideal place to live and the relationship between the amount of green areas and and the SUI of Warsaw residents and their QOL. The quantitative survey was conducted using the CAWI method on a sample of 381 adults. The WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire was used to measure QOL, the scale used in earlier surveys was used to assess SUI, areas of of Warsaw with different amounts of green space were distinguished using cluster analysis. The study showed a relationship between the SUI declared by residents and their QOL, mainly in the environmental domain. The discriminant analysis showed that satisfaction with greenery is one of the most important determinants of the subjective perception of a neighborhood as an ideal place to live. There was no direct effect of the amount of green areas in objective terms on the QOL of Warsawians, but a relationship was noted between the amount of green areas and SUI, with the highest level of satisfaction noted for the Green-balanced Cluster, characterized by the most favorable combination of quality and utility of urban area.
In primates, urine washing (UW) is a behavior in which individuals intentionally deposit urine on their bodies. Social and nonsocial hypotheses have been proposed to explain the adaptive function of ...this behavior. For capuchins, different functions have been assigned for UW, suggesting it as a flexible behavior, but studies have been mainly in captivity. However, no investigations have been performed in urban environments, where these animals can modify their behavior. Our goal was to study UW in a semi‐provisioned group of an introduced unknown robust capuchin species (Sapajus sp.) living in a tiny urban fragment in Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil, where they have contact with humans. We assessed the influence of social (sexual, agonistic, and anointing behaviors) and environmental (temperature, relative air humidity, height of the monkeys in the trees, number of people present in the fragment, and human‐monkey interactions) variables, the influence of behavior before and after UW, and the influence of sex‐age classes, on the frequency of UW. We observed 75 records of UW in 300 h of observations, where urine was mostly deposited on hands and passed on to feet (95%). There were no significant differences in the frequency of the behavior between sex‐age classes nor in the behaviors before and after UW. Around 50% of UW took place in the late morning and we found no correlation between UW and temperature, relative air humidity, nor the heights of the monkeys in the trees. However, we found a significant association between UW and the daily number of people in the fragment, but not between UW and human‐monkey interactions, anointing, agonisms, and sexual behavior. Our study increases the scope of UW flexibility by identifying the presence of visitors affecting the occurrence of this behavior. We discussed different possibilities through which people could influence the capuchins to display UW.
Number of people in the fragment was positively correlated with urine washing behavior.
RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT
Urine washing (UW) observed in urban robust capuchins is positively associated with the number of people observed inside the forest, increasing the scope of the flexibility of UW by including people as influencers of the display of this behavior in capuchins.
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